Clippers-Nets Preview

By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTOPosted Nov 22 2012 10:46PM

Chris Paul and Deron Williams took the blame for recent defeats by their respective teams.

Fault may not matter this time, but one of these star point guards is about to suffer another loss.

Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers will try to beat Williams' Brooklyn Nets on the road for just the second time in 14 tries Friday night.

Paul is vital to Los Angeles' success, ranking second in the NBA with 9.9 assists per game, and tied for second with 2.4 steals.

He's also averaging 15.6 points, but didn't come close to that in Wednesday's 117-111 overtime loss at Oklahoma City, ending the Clippers' six-game winning streak. The five-time All-Star finished with nine points, missing 12 of 14 from the field and all three 3-point attempts.

"I think the frustrating part is we had an opportunity to win and, regardless of what anybody says, it's going to be hard for us to win a game when I play that bad," said Paul, who had nine assists, five rebounds and four steals.

"It's tough because you work so hard, but there's going to be nights like that," he said.

Williams may sympathize with his teammate from last summer's gold medal-winning Olympic team.

The same night Paul turned in his worst shooting performance of the season, Williams converted 4 of 12 field goals - 0 for 5 from long range - and totaled a season-low nine points in a 102-93 loss at Golden State.

The Nets (6-4) shot 73.7 percent in the first quarter and led by 12 points, but went 24 of 64 (37.5 percent) the rest of the way to lose their second straight following a five-game winning streak.

"When we saw that lead, we got a little greedy and started thinking we could do it by ourselves," Williams said. "A lot of what happened out there was my fault. We didn't (do) the little things that you need to do to win games."

They've done enough at home, where the Nets are 4-1 while averaging 100.2 points compared to 92.4 on the road.

Williams has been a big part of that success, averaging 20.8 points and 9.4 assists. In the most recent meeting against the visiting Clippers (8-3), he scored 21 points and dished out 10 assists, including one on the go-ahead 3 with 0.2 seconds left in a 101-100 victory March 7.

Paul had 22 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and five steals in that meeting, but Los Angeles fell for the 12th time in 13 road games against the Nets.

Blake Griffin can't be blamed for losing the last two matchups since he's totaled 51 points and 26 rebounds. The All-Star forward also did his part Wednesday, making 9 of 16 field goals for 23 points as Los Angeles split the first two of this four-game trip, which ends Saturday in Atlanta.

He may have to contend with Brooklyn's Brook Lopez, who leads the team with 18.7 points after scoring 22 against the Warriors. He's scored 22 or more in five of his last six games.

Lopez has totaled 48 points on 20 of 37 from the field in his last two meetings with the Clippers, but injuries prevented him from appearing in both matchups last season.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Nets shut down Clippers in fourth, win 86-76

By BRIAN MAHONEYPosted Nov 23 2012 11:29PM

NEW YORK (AP) The Brooklyn Nets gave up enough dunks and dishes in the first half, then decided to toughen up.

Even they were impressed with the way they grounded the Clippers' high flyers.

Brook Lopez had 26 points, including consecutive baskets during the decisive stretch, and Brooklyn shut down Los Angeles in the fourth quarter for an 86-76 victory Friday night.

The Nets allowed just 10 baskets in the second half and held Chris Paul and Blake Griffin scoreless in the fourth quarter - Griffin without even a shot attempt.

"It was impressive," Lopez said. "I was talking to MarShon (Brooks) on the bench, I was like, `Man, we're just getting stop after stop.' And you know we started converting on the other end, and that was huge for us."

Brooklyn outscored Los Angeles 23-13 during a final period in which Paul had no points, one assist, two turnovers and six fouls. Deron Williams didn't have a great game either, but he improved to 14-4 in the longtime rivalry between two of the NBA's top point guards.

"We just tried to make things as hard as possible for him," Williams said. "He was getting in the lane and able to dish in the first half to a lot of guys and we were kind of switching a little bit at the end and putting our big guys on him and just trying to make him finish. And he ended up turning the ball over a couple of times down the stretch, which was good for us because he does a great job taking care of the ball."

Joe Johnson added 19 points for the Nets, who limited the Clippers to 29 points in the second half and got back on track after losing the final two games of a six-game trip.

Griffin and Paul each had 14 points for the Clippers, who have dropped two in a row following a six-game winning streak. DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford finished with 13 points.

Williams had 11 points and eight assists, continuing a shooting slump by going 3 of 10. But the Nets didn't need much with such a strong defensive effort.

They particularly got to Paul, who has trying to bounce back after going 2 of 14 and finishing with nine points and nine assists in a 117-111 loss at Oklahoma City, the first time he had been held to single digits in each statistic in the same game since last April 12.

"You've got to be able to do it on the road. Good teams can. Good teams execute on the road down the stretch," Paul said. "Everybody knows what their role is and we got to do better. That starts with me."

The Nets got a boost from Reggie Evans, who came off the bench to finish with six points and 12 rebounds in 22 minutes against his former team, saying the ease with which the Clippers scored early gave him motivation.

"I know when they get frustrated, I know when players may want the ball and they're not getting it and stuff like that, so it's kind of good I played with them, kind of used that to my advantage," Evans said.

Each team scored just 38 points in the middle two quarters, but the Nets finally got some offense in the fourth.

Keith Bogans made a 3-pointer to snap a 63-all tie entering the period, and the Nets had the lead until the Clippers scored five straight points to tie it at 74 on Crawford's layup with 4:15 to play.

Gerald Wallace made one free throw with 3:58 remaining, then Lopez had consecutive baskets to make it 79-74 with 3:03 to go. The Clippers turned it over and the ball came to Johnson in the corner after a scramble for an offensive rebound, his 3-pointer making it 82-74. Williams followed with a pair of free throws as the lead hit double digits.

"The turnovers really hurt us tonight. We have to do a better job of controlling that. We had 20 turnovers tonight. Every time we got a stop, we turned it over on the break or stepping out of bounds or just not executing the way we need to," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said.

"We didn't shoot the basketball. We missed a lot of easy shots, but it was really more we'd get a stop or two and then we could never get any rhythm. We didn't do a good job moving the basketball. I thought the game in the second half kind of slowed down to their pace."

Caron Butler had seven points on 3-of-9 shooting in his return to the Clippers' lineup after missing a game with a right shoulder strain.

The Nets made 11 of 17 shots in the first quarter, but missed their last attempt on the highlight of the period. Williams rose for a dunk attempt but Griffin was way higher for a powerful denial with 17 seconds left, sending Williams tumbling back to the floor and keeping it tied at 25 heading to the second.

It stayed close throughout the second before the Clippers scored the final eight points, starting with a pair of baskets by Griffin, to take a 47-40 lead into the break.

NOTES: On Black Friday, the Nets wore their road black uniforms. ... Fans at the game included Nets part-owner Jay-Z and wife Beyonce, her former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland, Billy Crystal and Ray Romano. ... There was a fairly loud chant of "Overrated! Overrated!" when Griffin went to the line for a pair of free throws in the third quarter. He missed both shots.

Copyright 2012 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited

Notebook: Nets 86, Clippers 76

THE FACTS: The Nets rode stellar second-half defense, good ball movement that fed Brook Lopez's dunk-happy renaissance, Reggie Evans' 12 rebounds in 22 minutes, and efficient work from Joe Johnson (19 points) to their signature win of this young season, downing the Clippers 86-76. Lopez led all scorers with 26 points. For the Clippers, the dynamic troika of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford was held in check, combining for 41 points. Paul fouled out, committing all six of his fouls in the fourth quarter.

QUOTABLE: "My guys are giving me good looks around the basket where I can take one dribble and go up and dunk it. I am getting a lot of easy looks thanks to them."
-- Lopez

THE STAT: For all the pregame clamoring about pace, the Nets still failed to register a fast break point -- the Clippers had 17 -- yet the Nets still won the game.

TURNING POINT: With the game in the balance, Lopez took matters into his own hands with a pair of maneuvers to put the Nets up 79-74. A Joe Johnson corner 3 put the Nets up eight and sealed the outcome.

QUOTABLE II: "That was crazy, huh→ I have not been called for that many fouls unless it was a video game. It was six fouls in five minutes, wasn't it→ I did not think I had any fouls. The last two fouls were clear fouls but that wasn't good officiating."
-- Paul

NOTABLE:Deron Williams (11 points, eight assists) went up for a powerful one-handed dunk late in the first quarter, but was met by Griffin who made a thrilling rejection. ... Andray Blatche attempted two fancy behind-the-back moves in the second quarter, both times with a negative result; the first came on the fast break, the second a pass to Kris Humphries down low. ... Playing through pain, Williams improved to 14-4 against Paul.